Snaps of some new French

[James Morris]

Armed with a sunny evening a few days ago and my newly-knocked-out backdrop, I decided to get a few shots of my latest French for the current Verdun project.

First up are a number of poilus from Brigade Games.  Like all Mike Owen sculpts they have MASSIVE bayonets and are quite fun to paint.  Loads of kit on these guys compared to the Woodbine Minis.



This is my 'Horizon Bleu' shot - not sure the Woodbine officer really blends in to the sky though!



The Woodbine Hotchkiss at close quarters.



Brigade Games 75mm gun.




And VB grenade launchers, also by Brigade.  These are lovely models.



While trying to find some French trench raiders that I like I bought a pack of 'French Characters' sight-unseen from Old Glory .  These chaps struck me as the most suitable, if somewhat historically dubious.  Mr Club-and-Shield has a GB headswap.



Casualties from Woodbine; the first of many, of course.



Here's the set-up; backdrop painted on foamboard, some blasted trees, and figures.  The shell holes are one of my best buys from Salute, non-hex craters made by Kallistra.  Really handy if you're doing WW1 with drop-on terrain.



Teeny tiny poilus.  I got tempted by the new 12mm Kallistra models and quickly painted up a few to see what the effect was like.



Last but not least, another view of the Woodbine MG.  This model was a joy to assemble and paint, thank you GB!

[Anna Elizabeth]

Excellent work! I'm just a beginner at the Great War, but these are marvelous. Nicely shaded, and I like your attention to detail.

[von Lucky]

Agreed - all nicely tied together.

[Cessna]

Excellent work!

[commissarmoody]

Very nice looking French at that.

[juergen c. olk]

Great painting and photography!!!

[Atheling]

Nice work James 

Really looking forward to seeing some WWI action at Partizan 

Darrell.

[Ray Earle]

They look great James. That horizon blue looks spot on to my eye. 

How did you find the Kallistra figures? I've been tempted to pick some up for early war.

[James Morris]

They look great James. That horizon blue looks spot on to my eye. 

How did you find the Kallistra figures? I've been tempted to pick some up for early war.

Cheers Ray.  Horizon blue is the Army Painter Wolf Grey spray with a black wash and a single highlight; I really like it.

I think the Kallistra figures are spot on, personally.  Very clean castings and full of character, lots of poses.  I don't think my paint job is the best but I was just seeing how quickly I could knock them out (actually, given the size of the models, a decent basing job is probably more important.)  I'm planning on buying French and Germans for 1916 and probably playing Peter Pig's Square Bashing with them as a bit of a side project to 28mm.

[monk2002uk]

The Kallistra figures are very nice, across the board. The early war range is excellent quality. The range is quite extensive too, though not as wide as the Pendraken range. Kallistra are noticeably bigger than the likes of Pendraken. As long as you don't mix figures from different manufacturers on the same base then it is still possible to have both on the table IMHO.

Robert

[Atheling]

Will I/we be seeing these mini's at Partizan James?

Darrell.

[James Morris]

The Kallistra figures are very nice, across the board. The early war range is excellent quality. The range is quite extensive too, though not as wide as the Pendraken range. Kallistra are noticeably bigger than the likes of Pendraken. As long as you don't mix figures from different manufacturers on the same base then it is still possible to have both on the table IMHO.

Robert

That's interesting, I haven't really looked at Pendraken yet.  Thanks for the tip.

[James Morris]

Will I/we be seeing these mini's at Partizan James?

Darrell.

Yup, except the 12mm ones as I've only painted 8 so far and have no terrain for thsi scale -yet!  The plan for Partizan is to do a smallish 28mm game set in the Bois des Caures in February 1916 - fox holes, shattered trees and snow.  To which end I have based up 50 trees today... 

[Belisarius]

Ah yes , it makes me think of " Paths of Glory " with Kirk Douglas , surely one of the best war films ever made , the attack on the Anthill. Very well done , the French uniforms hold a certain attraction before they all went into drab earth colours.

[Anna Elizabeth]

Oooh, yes! Paths of Glory, it's been a long time, I'd forgotten that one, thank you!

Y'all are getting me hyped to start French for Great War. I'm so flighty, I should finish my BEF first.... XD